India likely to extend credit line to Sri Lanka for essential medicines

India is likely to extend a line of credit for essential medicines to Sri Lanka, in a bid to bail out its southern neighbour. A meeting was convened on Tuesday evening, which was attended by some pharma exporters, representatives from the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil), representatives from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), among others, to discuss the modalities.

The quantum of the line of credit to be extended is not yet known. At the moment, exporters are awaiting clearances from banks on currency-related issues, and consignments will be shipped soon, said a source in the know.

A senior government official